Memory (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
" memorious" |" memorization" |" memorize" |" memorized" |" memorizing" |" memory" |"memories"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.91, Purport:

"My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions." (BG 18.73) It is the constitutional position of the living entity to be situated in this pure consciousness. Any so-called religious process that interferes with this unadulterated spiritual position of the living being must therefore be considered a pretentious process of religiosity.

CC Adi 2.17, Purport:

In this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.6.47), vāta-vāsanāḥ refers to mendicants who do not care about anything material, including clothing, but who depend wholly on nature. Such sages do not cover their bodies even in severe winter or scorching sunshine. They take great pains not to avoid any kind of bodily suffering, and they live by begging from door to door. They never discharge their semen, either knowingly or unknowingly. By such celibacy they are able to raise the semen to the brain. Thus they become most intelligent and develop very sharp memories. Their minds are never disturbed or diverted from contemplation on the Absolute Truth, nor are they ever contaminated by desire for material enjoyment. By practicing austerities under strict discipline, such mendicants attain a neutral state transcendental to the modes of nature and merge into the impersonal Brahman.

CC Adi 13.61, Purport:

Near the temple is a place named Āmalītalā (Imlitala), which is so named because of a big tamarind tree there. According to a party named the Neḍādi-sampradāya, Vīrabhadra Prabhu, with the assistance of twelve hundred Neḍās (Buddhist monks), dug a great lake of the name Śvetagaṅgā. Outside of the temple are tombs of the Gosvāmīs, and there is a small river known as the Mauḍeśvara, which is called the water of Yamunā. Within half a mile from this small river is the birthplace of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. It appears that there was a big kīrtana hall in front of the temple, but later it became dilapidated. It is now covered by banyan trees. Later on, a temple was constructed within which Gaura-Nityānanda Deities are existing. The temple was constructed by the late Prasannakumāra Kārapharmā. A tablet was installed in his memory in the Bengali year 1323 (A.D. 1916), in the month of Vaiśākha (April-May).

CC Adi 16.44, Translation:

The Lord replied, "By the grace of the Lord someone may become a great poet, and similarly by His grace someone else may become a great śruti-dhara who can memorize anything immediately."

CC Adi 16.44, Purport:

As soon as we find anything extraordinary, we should understand that such an extraordinary manifestation is the special grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to the champion, Keśava Kāśmīrī, that just as he was greatly proud of being a favorite devotee of mother Sarasvatī, so someone else, like Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, being favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could become a śruti-dhara and thus memorize anything immediately simply by hearing it.

CC Adi 16.50, Purport:

Keśava Kāśmīrī first wanted to bluff Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by saying that since He was not an advanced student in literary style, He could not review a verse full of metaphors and literary ornaments. This argument has some basis in fact. Unless one is a medical man he cannot criticize a medical man, and unless one is a lawyer he cannot criticize a lawyer. Therefore Keśava Kāśmīrī first depreciated the Lord's position. Because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was to the champion a student of grammar, how could He dare criticize a great poet like him? Lord Caitanya, therefore, criticized the poet in a different way. He said that although He was certainly not advanced in a literary career, He had heard from others how to criticize such poetry, and as a śruti-dhara, possessing a complete memory, He could understand the process for such a review.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 2 Summary:

Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī has confirmed that the opinion of Svarūpa Dāmodara is authoritative in the matter of devotional service. Over and above this are the notes of Svarūpa Dāmodara, memorized by Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who also helped in the compilation of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. After the disappearance of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana. At that time the author, Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī, met Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, by whose mercy he also could memorize all the notes. In this way the author was able to complete this transcendental literature, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

CC Madhya 2.84, Purport:

All the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were noted by His personal secretary Svarūpa Dāmodara and repeated to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who memorized them. Whatever Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī heard is recorded in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This is called the paramparā system, from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Svarūpa Dāmodara to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī to Kavirāja Gosvāmī. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has distributed this information in his book Caitanya-caritāmṛta. In other words, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the essence of the instruction given through the paramparā system of the disciplic succession stemming from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Madhya 4.202, Translation and Purport:

Trembling, perspiration, jubilant tears, shock, fading of the bodily luster, disappointment, moroseness, loss of memory, pride, joy and humility were all visible in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's body.

In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, jāḍya is explained as loss of memory brought about by severe shock due to separation from the beloved. In that state of mind, one loses all concern for loss and gain, hearing and seeing, as well as all other considerations. This marks the preliminary appearance of illusion.

CC Madhya 19.1, Purport:

Before the creation of this cosmic manifestation, the Lord enlightened the heart of Lord Brahmā with the details of the creation and manifested the Vedic knowledge. In exactly the same way, the Lord, being anxious to revive the Vṛndāvana pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, impregnated the heart of Rūpa Gosvāmī with spiritual potency. By this potency, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī could revive the activities of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, activities almost lost to memory. In this way, He spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the world.

CC Madhya 20.274, Purport:

"'At a time beyond memory, after agitating the material nature into three qualities, the Supreme Personality of Godhead placed the semen of innumerable living entities within the womb of that material nature. Thus material nature gave birth to the total material energy, known as the hiraṇmaya-mahat-tattva, the original symbolic representation of the cosmic manifestation.'"

CC Madhya 24.8, Translation:

"I do not recall what I spoke in that connection, but if something comes to My mind due to association with you, I shall explain it."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

"O collector of honey, Kṛṣṇa must be very sorry not to see us gopīs. Surely He is afflicted by memories of our pastimes. Therefore He has sent you as a messenger to satisfy us. Do not speak to us! All the women in the three worlds where death is inevitable—the heavenly, middle and lower planets—are very easily available to Kṛṣṇa because His curved eyebrows are so attractive. Moreover, He is always served very faithfully by the goddess of fortune. In comparison with her, we are most insignificant. Indeed, we are nothing. Yet although He is very cunning, Kṛṣṇa is also very charitable. You may inform Him that He is praised for His kindness to unfortunate persons and that He is therefore known as Uttamaśloka, one who is praised by chosen words and verses."

CC Antya Concluding Words:

In this connection we may call to memory the time when I was fortunate enough to meet His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda, sometime in the year 1922. Śrīla Prabhupāda had come to Calcutta from Śrīdhāma Māyāpur to start the missionary activities of the Gauḍīya Maṭha. He was sitting in a house at Ulta Danga when through the inducement of an intimate friend, the late Śrīmān Narendranath Mullik, I had the opportunity to meet His Divine Grace for the first time. I do not remember the actual date of the meeting, but at that time I was one of the managers of Dr. Bose's laboratory in Calcutta. I was a newly married young man, addicted to Gandhi's movement and dressed in khadi. Fortunately, even at our first meeting His Divine Grace advised me to preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in English in the Western countries. Because at that time I was a complete nationalist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi's, I submitted to His Divine Grace that unless our country were freed from foreign subjugation, no one would hear the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu seriously. Of course, we had some argument on this subject, but at last I was defeated and convinced that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message is the only panacea for suffering humanity.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 16:

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.37) it is stated that man's fear is due to his material conception of life and to his forgetting his eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord. Consequently he finds himself having only perverted memories. This occurs due to the spell of material energy. One who has sufficient intelligence will engage himself in full devotional service and regard the Supreme Lord as his spiritual master and worshipable God. The conclusion is that no one can attain a revolution in consciousness without engaging in devotional service to the Lord. When one is actually free from material contamination, he can fully engage himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 21:

Besides these, there are other transcendental qualities which are described by Lord Śiva to Pārvatī in the Padma Purāṇa, and in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with a conversation between the deity of the earth and the King of religion, Yamarāja. It is said therein, "Persons who are desirous of becoming great personalities must be decorated with the following qualities: truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, perseverance, renunciation, peacefulness, simplicity, control of the senses, equilibrium of the mind, austerity, equality, forbearance, placidity, learning, knowledge, detachment, opulence, chivalry, influence, strength, memory, independence, tactfulness, luster, patience, kind-heartedness, ingenuity, gentility, mannerliness, determination, perfection in all knowledge, proper execution, possession of all objects of enjoyment, gravity, steadiness, faithfulness, fame, respectfulness and lack of false egotism." Persons who are desiring to become great souls cannot be without any of the above qualities, so we can know for certain that these qualities are found in Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme soul.

Nectar of Devotion 21:

A man is called intelligent if he has a sharp memory and fine discretion. As far as Kṛṣṇa's memory is concerned, it is said that when He was studying in the school of Sāndīpani Muni in Avantīpura, He showed such a sharp memory that by once taking instructions from the teacher He immediately became perfect in any subject. Actually, His going to the school of Sāndīpani Muni was to show the people of the world that however great or ingenious one may be, he must go to higher authorities for general education. However great one may be, he must accept a teacher or spiritual master.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 9, Purport:

The spiritual world is naturally superior to the material world; however, Mathurā and the adjoining areas, although appearing in the material world, are considered superior to the spiritual world because the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself appeared at Mathurā. The interior forests of Vṛndāvana are considered superior to Mathurā because of the presence of the twelve forests (dvādaśa-vana), such as Tālavana, Madhuvana and Bahulāvana, which are famous for the various pastimes of the Lord. Thus the interior Vṛndāvana forest is considered superior to Mathurā, but superior to these forests is the divine Govardhana Hill because Kṛṣṇa lifted Govardhana Hill like an umbrella, raising it with His lotuslike beautiful hand to protect His associates, the denizens of Vraja, from the torrential rains sent by the angry Indra, King of the demigods. It is also at Govardhana Hill that Kṛṣṇa tends the cows with His cowherd friends, and there also He had His rendezvous with His most beloved Śrī Rādhā and engaged in loving pastimes with Her. Rādhā-kuṇḍa, at the foot of Govardhana, is superior to all because it is there that love of Kṛṣṇa overflows. Advanced devotees prefer to reside at Rādhā-kuṇḍa because this place is the site of many memories of the eternal loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī (rati-vilāsa).

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book Preface:

For example, from these literatures we are given the histories of Kṛṣṇa's appearances and disappearances millions and billions of years ago. In the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna that both He and Arjuna had had many births before and that He (Kṛṣṇa) could remember all of them but Arjuna could not. This illustrates the difference between the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa and that of Arjuna. Arjuna might have been a very great warrior, a well-cultured member of the Kuru dynasty, but after all, he was an ordinary human being, whereas Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the possessor of unlimited knowledge. Because He possesses unlimited knowledge, Kṛṣṇa has a memory that is boundless.

Krsna Book Preface:

The knowledge Kṛṣṇa possesses is so perfect that He remembers all the incidents of His appearances some millions and billions of years in the past, but Arjuna's memory and knowledge are limited by time and space, for he is an ordinary human being. In the Fourth Chapter Kṛṣṇa states that He can remember instructing the lessons of the Bhagavad-gītā some millions of years ago to the sun-god, Vivasvān.

Krsna Book 2:

For persons who are not very advanced in absolute knowledge of the Supreme, Lord Kṛṣṇa exhibits His transcendental pastimes. Such persons can simply think of the pastimes of the Lord and get full benefit. Since there is no difference between the transcendental name and form of the Lord, there is no difference between the transcendental pastimes and the form of the Lord. For those who are less intelligent (like women, laborers or the mercantile class), the great sage Vyāsadeva wrote the Mahābhārata. In the Mahābhārata Kṛṣṇa is present in His different activities. The Mahābhārata is history, and simply by studying, hearing and memorizing the transcendental activities of Kṛṣṇa, the less intelligent can also gradually rise to the standard of pure devotees.

Krsna Book 10:

Trees are, by nature's laws, immovable. Although trees are covered by the mode of ignorance, they cannot do harm. The great sage Nārada thought it fitting that, although the brothers would be punished to become trees, by his mercy they would continue to keep their memory and be able to know why they were being punished. After changing the body, a living entity generally forgets his previous life, but in special cases, by the grace of the Lord, as with Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, one can remember.

Krsna Book 12:

The demon Aghāsura appeared before Kṛṣṇa and His friends. Aghāsura happened to be the younger brother of Pūtanā and Bakāsura, and he thought, "Kṛṣṇa has killed my brother and sister. Now I shall kill Him along with all His friends and calves." Aghāsura was instigated by Kaṁsa, so he had come with determination. Aghāsura also thought that when he would offer grains and water in memory of his brother and sister and kill Kṛṣṇa and all the cowherd boys, then automatically all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana would die. Generally, for the householders, the children are the life and breath force. When all the children die, then naturally the parents also die on account of strong affection for them.

Krsna Book 30:

When Kṛṣṇa suddenly disappeared from the company of the gopīs, they searched for Him everywhere. After not finding Him anywhere, they became afraid and almost mad after Him. They were simply thinking of the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in great love and affection. Being absorbed in thought of Him, they experienced loss of memory, and with dampened eyes they began to see the very pastimes of Kṛṣṇa—His beautiful talks with them, His embracing, kissing and other activities. Being so attracted to Kṛṣṇa, they imitated His dancing, His walking and His smiling, as if they themselves were Kṛṣṇa. Due to Kṛṣṇa's absence, they all became crazy; each one of them told the others that she was Kṛṣṇa Himself. Soon they all assembled together and chanted Kṛṣṇa's name very loudly as they moved from one part of the forest to another, searching for Him.

Krsna Book 60:

Rukmiṇī was conscious that her husband was not an ordinary human being. He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the three worlds. By the way He was speaking, she was afraid of being separated from the Lord, for she had never heard such harsh words from Kṛṣṇa before. Thus she became perplexed with fear of separation, and her heart began to palpitate. Without replying to a word of Kṛṣṇa's statement, she simply cried in great anxiety, as if drowning in an ocean of grief. She silently scratched the floor with her toenails, which reflected reddish light on the floor. The tears from her eyes mixed with the black cosmetic ointment from her eyelids and dropped down, washing the kuṅkuma and saffron from her breasts. Choked up on account of great anxiety, unable to speak even a word, she kept her head downward and remained standing just like a stick. Due to extremely painful fear and lamentation, she lost all her powers of reason and became weak, her body losing so much weight that the bangles on her wrists became slack. The cāmara with which she was serving Kṛṣṇa immediately fell from her hand. Her brain and memory became puzzled, and she lost consciousness. The nicely combed hair on her head scattered here and there, and she fell down straight, like a banana tree cut down by a whirlwind.

Krsna Book 64:

King Nṛga had remained in the well as a big lizard for a very long time. He told Lord Kṛṣṇa, "In spite of being put into that degraded condition of life, I simply thought of You, my dear Lord, and my memory was never vanquished." It appears from these statements of King Nṛga that persons who follow the principles of fruitive activities and derive some material benefits are not very intelligent. Being given the choice by the superintendent of death, Yamarāja, King Nṛga could have first accepted the results of his pious activities. Instead, he thought it better first to receive the effects of his impious activities and then enjoy the effects of his pious activities without disturbance. On the whole, he had not developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person develops love of God, Kṛṣṇa, not love for pious or impious activities; therefore he is not subjected to the results of such action. As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, a devotee, by the grace of the Lord, is not subjected to the reactions of fruitive activities.

Krsna Book 64:

Somehow or other, as a result of his pious activities, King Nṛga had aspired to see the Lord. He continued: “My dear Lord, I had a great desire that someday I might be able to see You personally. I think that this great desire to see You, combined with my tendency to perform ritualistic and charitable activities, has enabled me to retain the memory of who I was in my former life, even though I became a lizard."

Krsna Book 80:

“With great compassion our gurudeva said, “My dear boys, it is very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me. Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru that without caring for bodily comforts you have taken so much trouble for me. I am glad to see that bona fide students like you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born, I am greatly pleased by your acts, and I bless you: May all your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding of the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to remain within your memory, so that at every moment you can remember the teachings of the Vedas and quote their instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be disappointed in this life or the next.'“

Krsna Book 85:

"My dear Lord, although the forces of the senses, the mental power of thinking, willing and feeling, and the strength, movement and growth of the body appear to be performed by different movements of the airs within the body, they are all ultimately manifestations of Your energy. The vast expanse of outer space rests in You. The vibration of the sky (its thunder), the supreme sound (oṁkāra) and the arrangement of different words to distinguish one thing from another are all symbolic representations of You. The senses, the controllers of the senses (the demigods) and the acquisition of knowledge, which is the purpose of the senses, as well as the subject matter of knowledge—all are You. The resolution of intelligence and the sharp memory of the living entity are also You. You are the egoistic principle of ignorance, which is the cause of this material world, the egoistic principle of passion, which is the cause of the senses, and the egoistic principle of goodness, which is the origin of the different controlling deities of this material world. The illusory energy, or māyā, which is the cause of the conditioned soul's perpetual transmigration from one form to another, is You."

Krsna Book 87:

There is a difference, however, between the Supersoul and the individual soul, and this is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, Fifteenth Chapter, wherein the Lord says that although He is situated with the living entity in the same body, He is superior. He is dictating or giving intelligence to the individual soul from within. It is clearly stated in the Gītā that the Lord gives intelligence to the individual soul and that both memory and forgetfulness are due to the influence of the Supersoul. No one can act independently of the sanction of the Supersoul.

Krsna Book 87:

The next stage is called naiṣṭhika, which refers to a brahmacārī who is celibate throughout his whole life. Out of these, the first three are upakurvāṇa, which means that the brahmacārī can marry later, after the brahmacārī period is over. The naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī, however, is completely reluctant to have any sex life; therefore the Kumāras and Nārada are known as naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs. Such brahmacārīs are called vīra-vrata because their vow of celibacy is as heroic as the vows of the kṣatriyas. The brahmacārī system of life is especially advantageous in that it increases the power of memory and determination. It is specifically mentioned in this connection that because Nārada was a naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī he could remember whatever he heard from his spiritual master and would never forget it.

Krsna Book 90:

The transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, are so powerful that simply by hearing, reading and memorizing this book, Kṛṣṇa, one is sure to be transferred to the spiritual world, which is ordinarily very difficult to achieve. The description of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa is so attractive that it automatically gives us an impetus to study repeatedly, and the more we study the pastimes of the Lord, the more we become attached to Him. This very attachment to Kṛṣṇa makes one eligible to be transferred to His abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad Introduction:

Originally there was only one Veda, and there was no necessity of reading it. People were so intelligent and had such sharp memories that by once hearing from the lips of the spiritual master they would understand. They would immediately grasp the whole purport. But five thousand years ago Vyāsadeva put the Vedas in writing for the people in this age, Kali-yuga. He knew that eventually the people would be short-lived, their memories would be very poor, and their intelligence would not be very sharp. "Therefore, let me teach this Vedic knowledge in writing."

Sri Isopanisad 6, Purport:

Vedic truths are coming in disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmā, from Brahmā to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa, and from Vyāsa to many of his disciples. Formerly there was no need to record the messages of the Vedas, because people in earlier ages were more intelligent and had sharper memories. They could follow the instructions simply by hearing once from the mouth of a bona fide spiritual master.